Together They Can Be Perfect
by keep my issues drawn
Summary: Alone, they were outsiders, the odd ones out, the ones who were avoided. Together, they can be perfect, if only they give it a try.  Neville/Luna one-shot. Post War. For pineapple girl 1997 on her birthday! :


**Happy Birthday to pineapple girl 1997- I love you! Here's the LoveBottom fic for you, and hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks to my lovely Beta, Yet-Another-Weasley. **

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><p><strong>"Why is it always me?"<strong>

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><p><em>"I'm sorry, you're not what I'm looking for Neville."<em>

_"You're a sweet guy, I just don't feel anything for you."_

_"I'm sorry, it's not you, it's me."_

_"I think we should see other people."_

_"I'm sorry, I cheated on you."_

_"Maybe we should take a break?"_

_"The timing isn't right, Nev, I'm sorry."_

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><p>I sat down in a cushioned alcove, sipping my firewhiskey, and watching the crowd party. Most of them had their arms wrapped around each other, kissing, hugging, caressing. I was alone. I looked over to Harry and Ginny in the corner, only recognizable by the brightness of Ginny's red hair, and the fact that Rita Skeeter had managed to gate-crash in order to get some photos for the Prophet. Harry and Ginny didn't really care. It was the first Christmas of freedom - and they were determined to enjoy that.<p>

Technically, it wasn't actually Christmas. It wasn't even very close to Christmas. Twenty days away actually. Why was I even noting the fact? Why did I even care? It was a chance to get pissed. Drunk. Wasted. That was what I was trying to do. Nobody noticed me in the corner, sitting in the alcove on a red cushion, behind a Christmas tree. Unless they came very close, or I stood up, nobody would see me. And, to be honest, I was fine with that.

I should've been happy, I know. The war was over, Voldemort was dead. I had killed Nagini - who had turned out to be a horcrux. But I was more alone than I'd ever been. At least while I'd been at Hogwarts, fighting the Carrows, at least there had been people with me. I'd been their hero, their idol. At least there were people sharing a room with me every night, somebody there to stop the nightmares. Now the war was over, the nightmares came thicker and faster every night. I hated sleeping. And I was alone. I'd had girlfriends, a few actually, but nothing worked out. I was a war hero, and when they were dating me, they expected a hero. I'm not a hero. I just killed a snake, did exactly what Harry told me to do. He was the hero. Of course, he wasn't open for dating. He was attached - I snuck a look out from behind the tree - _literally_attached to Ginny Weasley. Of course, Ron was with Hermione. That left me. The only single one to destroy a Horcrux. But I wasn't the hero they thought I was. I didn't feel like a hero. That was why I was at a Christmas party, sitting in a red alcove, behind a Christmas tree, hoping that nobody spotted me, hoping I was just left alone.

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><p><strong>"You're Just As Sane As I Am"<strong>

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><p><em>"Luna, what is your problem?"<em>

_"I don't see things working out."_

_"We both want different things, Luna."_

_"I don't get you Luna, I don't get you at all."_

_"Maybe we should stop seeing each other…"_

_"I'm seriously not attracted to you right now."_

_"Loony, loopy Luna, loony, loopy Luna."_

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><p>I bit my lip and came out from my hiding place to get another butterbeer. I was trying to keep off the alcohol. I didn't want to end up acting like the rest of the people here. They looked like the wrackspurts had come and invaded their brains. I averted my eyes from Harry and Ginny. He might have been the chosen one, but blindness was definitely about to occur for people watching. I skipped up to the table, lightly took a butterbeer, and began to sip. I glanced around the room, taking in all the couples dancing and kissing. I wished I wasn't alone. Christmas parties are no fun as a single woman. I was pretty sure everyone else there had a partner. So I was alone.<p>

I decided to look at the Christmas trees, to see if I could spot any nargles. I looked around the room at the various shaped and sized trees, and sighed. They were beautiful, and jolly and festive. I felt like the complete opposite to them. Opposites attract though - the trees cheered me up, if only for a little while. I noticed a strange fat angel on the top of a tree, covered in gold glitter and stuffed into a pink tutu. Looking around to check no-one was watching me, I lifted it down. It looked at me with disgust, and then spat in my eye. I blinked rapidly.

"That's no angel." I whispered to myself. "A gnome - a _gernumbligardensi_."

It bit my finger, and I smiled. I'd always known gnome saliva was enormously beneficial - my Dad had always taught me that. Maybe something new, something special, could happen tonight. The gnome kept eyeing me, and I was fairly certain I heard it muttering a few choice swear words. I laughed and decided to go outside to release it. I skipped around the couples on the dance floor, trying to avoid bashing into any of them, sensing the gnome wouldn't be happy with me if I did. I made my way out into the cold, fresh air. It felt lovely to be outside after being cooped up inside, with the heat intensifying. I set the gnome free, watching it plod off to a hedge, still in its misshapen tutu and gold glitter. I sat down on a bench, next to a small pond and ran my fingers through my hair, and smoothed out my dress. I didn't want to be here tonight.

I looked out over the pond and watched small ripples form as insects buzzed around it, and fish jumped up. It was a truly magical place. A lone tear trickled down my cheek, and I made no effort to brush it away. I didn't know why I was crying. Was I crying with happiness, because the war was over? Was I crying because of how beautiful it was outside? Or was I crying because I was alone?

I'd never been a girl with a boyfriend. I'd been a loner for as long as I could remember. Was it a crime to want someone to love you? Was it a crime to not want to be alone at a party that I'd had to get special permission from Professor McGongall to come to? Was it a crime to want to find love in my final year at Hogwarts, to go away with my OWLs, and my NEWTs, and a boyfriend? Somebody who loved me? I didn't think so. Then again, people didn't usually agree with what I thought.

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><p><strong>'And I don't know who you are.'<strong>

**'I'm nobody,'**

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><p><em>"You know the war is over now, Luna."<em>

_"Yeah… And your point is?"_

_"There's nothing to stop us… you know."_

_"I know, Nev."_

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><p>I decided to get out from my hiding place. I was starting to get stiff from staying in the same position for so long, and every time I peeked out, the sights I saw burnt my eyes. The couples weren't exactly going the whole way, but it didn't take a genius to figure out they were wasted. I shifted past the Christmas tree, sighing with relief as I stretched out my legs, and walked through the dancing couples that were so tightly intertwined that they didn't notice as I accidentally bashed into them. I was never the most co-ordinated of people. Even with both feet firmly on the ground, I was terrible.<p>

I decided to head outside, and saw the shine of silver on the outside pond. I noticed a bench next to it, and spotted a flash of golden-blonde hair._Luna_. I hadn't seen her since August… our last meeting had been painful. It hadn't ended well. We'd been euphoric about the ending of the war, and a summer romance had sparked. To her, it was only a summer romance… to me, it was something more. I don't know if she knew how much I loved her. I don't know if she knew that every time I tried to date again, I was always thinking of her. She was beautiful, and I knew she deserved better than me. I was just Neville - the furthest from a hero you can possibly get. Neville Longbottom. Even the name is un-heroic. Why couldn't I have been called Harry Potter? Or Ronald Weasley? At least I wasn't named Severus Snape, or Cornac McLaggen. Those were two bad names. They really were. But my name, it just signified exactly who I was - a nobody. A guy who did some great stuff, but at the end of the day was just the same as everyone else. Worse. One who wasn't co-ordinated or tactful, could never find the right words when they were needed. A guy who wasn't right, was never perfect. Was the complete opposite of perfect. Neville Longbottom. That's me. I'm nobody.

Luna looked up from her haze of indifference, and looked into my eyes, and then looked away, as the pain in my eyes spoke to her. They spoke volumes. She flinched as I sat down beside her, and we both fell back into our memories. A memory that I hated - and I was sure she hated too. Funnily enough, it was the memory that I replayed in the mind my most. Trying to figure out where everything went wrong.

_"This didn't mean anything to you?" I asked, "Was it just another romance?"_

_"No!" She exclaimed, "Nev, I love you!"_

_I looked away from her, "I don't believe you. Why were you flirting with that Scamander guy?"_

_"I wasn't flirting, Nev! I was talking, he understands me! He understands things no-one else does."_

_I looked at her coldly, "You mean I don't understand?"_

_She looked as if she wanted to take back her words, "No, Neville, that's not what I mean!"_

_"No, I get it." I said coolly, "I don't understand you, I can never understand you. Maybe you should get together with Scamander."_

_She raised her hand, as if to slap me, but then stopped, and a tear trickled down her cheek, "Maybe I should." She whispered, "Maybe I should."_

"How's Scamander?" I asked.

Luna stared at me, "Rolf." She corrected.

I sighed, "How's _Rolf _then?"

"We aren't together anymore." Luna replied, "We wanted different things."

"I'm sorry." I said, although I wasn't, not in the slightest.

She laughed, a harsh laugh, completely unlike her, I suppose she was bitter, "No you're not."

"No." I replied, "I'm not."

"And Hannah? Abbott, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Wanted different things?" Luna asked.

"She cheated." I replied bitterly.

"Never trust a Hufflepuff." Luna muttered, raising her butterbeer.

"Amen to that." I laughed, digging the first thing out of my pocket to chink against her glass.

Luna laughed at me. "A Remembrall?"

I looked down at my hand to see my Remembrall glowing bright, "Damn, I've forgotten something again."

There was a silence between us that I wished I could've filled with words asking her to take me back - but I couldn't. I was Neville Longbottom, I was nobody. I never thought of words to fill a moment, to spin words into love. I couldn't fabricate words out loud. Only in my head did the words, did _life_, make sense.

"Lets go inside." Luna's clear voice broke through the night air, "I'm cold."

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><p><strong>Together they can be perfect.<strong>

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><p><em>"I was a nobody, and Luna made me somebody."<em>

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><p>I grabbed Neville's hand before I could lose the courage to do so - I was no Gryffindor. He looked down at his hand in shock, and then looked up and smiled at me, and I smiled back.<p>

"You okay?" He asked me.

I nodded and kept on walking towards the doors. The pounding music reached my eardrums fast. Familiar tunes, but none that I liked. _ACauldronFullofHotStrongLove_. I hated that song. Celestina Warbeck had to be the worst musical witch ever. Not to mention that it was old. Most of the dancers looked too drunk to care. I felt like the only sane person that night - and usually I never felt that. The only one to perceive the scene clearly, no alcohol addling my brain. Even Neville had drank, admittedly not as much as the others, but it was still clear he had drank.

"Nev, do you ever feel like you're the only one to appreciate life?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Like you're the only one truly alive. The only one who can understand everything around you, all the magical things in this world. Sometimes I feel like nobody else cares or understands. Like nobody could ever love me."

"Remember how I introduced myself the first time we properly met?" I asked.

I sighed, "No."

"I said I was nobody. And, I know I am, _alone_."

I looked at him, shocked and confused, "What do you mean Neville?"

He smiled at me, "What do you want me to mean?"

I went for it, before I could change my mind, "I want you to mean you love me."

I sighed blissfully, as he planted a kiss on my lips. Then I returned his kiss, sinking deeper and deeper into him, knowing that all that mattered was there and now, and that in that moment, I was alive, I was sane, and us two nobodies were somebody.

We pulled apart, and I watched mistletoe grow above our heads.

"You know, it could be infested with nargles." Neville commented.

I placed my hand on his cheek, "For once, I don't care."

And I kissed him like there was nothing else in the world. Because, in that moment, there wasn't.

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><p><strong>Authors Note: I hope you like it, again, Happy Birthday to pineapple girl 1997- I love you! :)<strong>

**Let me know what you think, and wish Pineapple girl 1997 Happy Birthday in your review!**

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